Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-04-10

sequence of the cards began with the ace,
the ten coming after the Guave in the
usual order.
81 can understand that" said the now
fee. 81 have skat down fine" But again
he was shipwrecked, for some one called
"Grandow Then all that had been learned
before bad to be thrown to the winds, for
in graEdo the four knaves in their order
were only trumps, the aces and tens OF
the other suits being the next best, kings
and queens following after.
About this time the learner or skat felt
humbled, confused, and had pain in his
head. Then, suddenly in one game, a
player cried out: ''Schneiderr and looked
delighted, and the other two players bag
gard; but in the next game, when PLAYER
got up from his chair when he had taken
the last trick, having secured all the tens,
and shrieked: "SchwarZ! An! Schwartz
then the delirium OF skat had reached its
limits.
just then, very fortunately, q comely
servant girl came in and opened bottles
of beer and presented sandwiches made
with caviar; otherwise it really looked
as if phlegmatic, as we're apparently our
German friends, blood might have been
split. To have made his adversaries
"schwarz" was apparently something a
player might be proud about. The win
y
his memory and recall it year hence.
Then, refreshed by the beer and the
caviar and in a perfect good humor once
more, the skattists resumed their game
as eager as ever. Now the novice found
out that in cards little learning was a
dangerous thing. He then made up Ills
mind to begin with "tabula rasa." He
took a sponge and wiped out every remin-
iscence OF any other game he ever knew
Cables ''Creole," or Miss Murfrle's ''reu-
nesseean" or harris negro dialects are
quite supert1uous.
Skat was knotty, stringy, twisted, con-
torted, arbitrary, and had to be unrav-
e,ed, untangled, split and straighteted
out. "Schneider' and "schwarz," when
driven into his head, found their equiva-
Tents In the ''doubIe" or "triple" of whist.
"Schwarz" was to be made black" or
be whitewashed, or to be made n goose
egg OF, or To adopt that beautiful word,
singular to us, a term derived from natu-
raj history, to be ''skunked."
Before the game was through the writer
began to take in, what was Spanish to
him before, which were the "matadors."
When a player held the knave OF clubs,
which was at the top OF the sequence and
next the knave of spades, he mad two
matadors. Ii he held all four OF them he
udu lOuCs IL hlJeT ludG uCts AIuR, Quteus
etc., he mad as many more matadors, The
queer thing was, that il his adversares
held them and he won, he counted for his
own gains so many more points.
The skat seance lasted only seven hours
and when it was over the learner had a
faint inkling OF what it might be like. He
had the courage to witness a second game.
He pored over the literature devoted to
the subject. Little by little the light
cleaned on him. The potency of tOurne,
solo, grando, the whole chromatic scale
became perceptible to him. He counted
the values of the court cards with the
tens and found they made 100 in all, and
mad to win in the game Of points one more
than half, 81 had to be secured.
Did he know, then, how to play skat?
He was the Veriest verdant, the most con-
fused of chumps. He mixed up every
thing. Partners usually placid in de-
meanor, gentle in word, scOwled at him,
belittled him. berated him. he lost not
only their games, but, in order to be i'm
partial, ruined his own. There was moth
ing he tried to make which he could make.
He was "schneldered" and "SchwarZed,"
dashed, maugled, tarred and feathered.
He was heart-broken. not purse broken,
for skat is so Inherently interesting that
1t can be played "lor love" or Tor very
small stake. At last he defied skat. He
declared it should not beat him. He
would master it. Again he had recourse
to the literature on the subject. Then in
modest way he begged permission quite
humbly to try once more, and was adj
mitted as a fourth at skat game, for
skat, though three-handed game, can be
played bv four, the fourth man when ne
deals not playing.
The man VINO mad played all the known
| and unknown games of various worlds
was now fortunately ditiident AS TO his
powers, all his arrogance had gone. be
| had carefully watched, at intervals, the
methods OF the other players. He saw
how the two got an unfortunate player in
| the Caudine fork, tossed him on the two
| horns of a dilemma, and then dumped
| (wemmelu all the aces and tens on their
| own tricks and gOaded him to madness,
so that instead Of his making 81 points he
| only managed TO make 30, and was
''schneidered." Then he tried a hand
and, though ne made May asinine blum
ders, he was forgiven, for it was apparent
that finally he had some vague ideas Of
what was the spirit of the game.
A good whist player, a dapster at Bos-
| ton, q shining mark at six-and-siXty, a
| proficient euchre player, strong hand
| al chess may become a skatist OF merit,
| providing he plays skat for 10 years. He
must be able to count all the points in his
| game as he taxes Jnem IN, ana ought by
that time & in the 10 or Is years, say, to
know, notwitbstand ng the two cards con-
| cealed IN the skat, what are the cards in
| the various hands before the last three
| rounds are played. No wonder that there
are only two good sKat players In New
| York.
Is the play worth the candle? Yes, II
is. Skat is the most delightful of all
| games, and tue fullest OF surprises
There is a constant element, the un-
known, in IL. Occasionally game il
attempted by reckless player, who has
been led up, forced up, or gereitz'd by bis
opponents to the maddest OF all calls, BY
| the accident OF the cards or the leas
| blunder OF his adversaries he makes bis
| point, and the impossible becomes pos
sible. Then again n hand looks certain
There is a solo, that you hold, which is g
dead sure thing, which detiss the chances
OF a failure. You play 1t and not onl!
lose, but worse than that you are
''schneidered."
There is a German carlcature. 1t rep
resents a snowstorm. Three unfortu
nate travellers have been smothered 10 tn
DRIFT. In their agony they have thrus
their arms through the white envelope
| The knayes in their hands show they hav
been PLAYING skat. The whole sad storl
10 told at a glance. They have bee
insensIbe to dangers. Flake b.
flake. inch by inch, foot by foot the snow
has settled on them. They took n
heed OF late. They were inveterate ska